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Deuteronomy 15

KJV · Chapter 15/34

1At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

2And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.

3Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;

4Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:

5Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

6For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

7If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

8But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

9Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

10Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

11For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

12And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

13And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:

14Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

15And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.

16And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;

17Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.

18It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.

19All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

20Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household.

21And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.

22Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.

23Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God institutes the year of release every seven years, when debts between Israelites were to be forgiven and Hebrew slaves set free with generosity, along with instructions to lend open-heartedly to the poor without resentment over the approaching year of forgiveness.

Explanation

The year of debt release created an economic system that prevented perpetual indebtedness and permanent structural poverty, recognizing that adverse circumstances can bring anyone into temporary need, but that this condition should not become hereditary and hopeless. The specific warning against the selfish calculation of refusing loans near the seventh year ('and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother') shows that God cared not only about the legal structure of generosity but also about the inner attitude behind it. The promise that 'the poor shall never cease out of the land' honestly acknowledges that poverty would continue to exist even with these laws — the biblical solution was not to eliminate poverty structurally once and for all, but to establish continual, recurring generosity as a practical and permanent response.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'the poor shall never cease out of the land' (v. 11) is echoed by Jesus in Matthew 26:11 ('for ye have the poor always with you') during the anointing at Bethany, showing how deeply He knew and naturally quoted the texts of Deuteronomy.
  • The practice of piercing the ear of a servant who chose to remain voluntarily with his master beyond the required six years (v. 17) symbolized a perpetual and visible commitment, and curiously contrasts with Esau's selling of his birthright, showing different symbolic ways of formalizing agreements in ancient Hebrew culture.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronomy 15:1Every seven years there was a release: whoever had lent to a fellow Israelite had to forgive the debt. The idea was to keep poverty from becoming permanent, giving a periodic fresh start to anyone who had fallen into debt.
  2. Deuteronomy 15:2It explains the mechanism of the release: every debt between Israelites was to be forgiven, with no forced collection.
  3. Deuteronomy 15:3It draws a distinction: debts owed by foreigners could still be collected normally, but not those owed by fellow Israelites.
  4. Deuteronomy 15:4The promise behind the law is that, if followed closely, there would be no structural poverty among the people, because of God’s blessing on the land.
  5. Deuteronomy 15:5This absence of poverty is conditioned on carefully obeying all the commandments.
  6. Deuteronomy 15:6The promised blessing would even include economic prosperity over other nations: lending without needing to borrow.
  7. Deuteronomy 15:7If there was still a poor person among the people, the instruction was not to harden the heart or shut the hand against him.
  8. Deuteronomy 15:8It calls for active generosity: opening the hand and lending enough to meet the real need of the poor person.
  9. Deuteronomy 15:9It warns against a mean-spirited calculation: refusing help close to the year of release, out of fear of not getting the money back, would be counted as sin.
  10. Deuteronomy 15:10It asks that generosity come without resentment, because that generous attitude would also bring a blessing on one’s own work.
  11. Deuteronomy 15:11It realistically acknowledges that poverty would never disappear entirely, which is why the command to keep being generous always remains in force.
  12. Deuteronomy 15:12A Hebrew servant was freed after six years of service, and the owner still had to send him away with provisions, not empty-handed. If he preferred to stay because he loved the household, his ear was pierced at the door as a sign that he chose to stay forever, a custom common in the ancient world for marking that kind of commitment.
  13. Deuteronomy 15:13When freeing a Hebrew servant after six years, the law forbids sending him away empty-handed.
  14. Deuteronomy 15:14It requires the owner to furnish him generously from his own flock, threshing floor, and winepress — a share of the prosperity received from God.
  15. Deuteronomy 15:15The reason given once again is the memory of slavery in Egypt: whoever was freed by God must also free others generously.
  16. Deuteronomy 15:16It provides for the case of the servant who prefers to stay, because he loves the household and the owner’s family.
  17. Deuteronomy 15:17In that case, a simple ritual — piercing the ear at the door — marked the commitment to serve forever, a common practice at the time.
  18. Deuteronomy 15:18It asks that the owner not see the release as a loss, since six years of work were already worth double the normal wage of a hired hand.
  19. Deuteronomy 15:19Every firstborn male of the flock and herd was born already set apart for the LORD and could not be used for work or shorn: it was as if, from birth, part of the livestock already belonged to God before the owner made any decision.
  20. Deuteronomy 15:20It requires that the firstborn of the flock be eaten yearly before God, at the place He chose, by the whole family.
  21. Deuteronomy 15:21Important exception: an animal with a defect — lame, blind, or with any flaw — could not be offered as a sacrifice.
  22. Deuteronomy 15:22In that case of a defect, the animal could be eaten normally at home, by anyone, as ordinary meat.
  23. Deuteronomy 15:23Even in this exception, the rule about blood still applies: never eat it, always pour it out on the ground.

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